Update 03-04-09:
What date works best for you?
Andrew: ok
Wednesday Night through Sunday Night would work best for me
either that or Thursday night through Monday night
(which actually works better)
So, some possible dates
August 6 to 19
*August 6 to 10
or August 13 to 17
================================
There have been several discussions regarding a possible meeting next year, and many points that would need to be touched upon/discussed. The earlier we start getting things ironed out the better (besides, Axel Z said I should go ahead and post something
)
I guess the first question is this: Is there enough interest in doing another big meeting next year to make it worthwhile?This would come down to whether or not enough wanted to come (there were 16 full time people the first time, and 23 full timers this year), and what they would consider being "worthwhile".
Does being "worthwhile" for you mean that a certain # of other people need to come?
A certain person (or persons?)?
That there must be more than the last two years?
or just that if they're hosting one, you'll be there (this is my stance)?
While I am not 100% positive that there would be enough interest to make it worthwhile for people. I am assuming that there will be (judging from the responses from the last two years).
The next two big questions would be: Where is the location we want to host this meeting? and
When/How long will the meet need to be?
While I would vote for hosting at the Weathertons again next year (if they would be willing to host)
, there are those who have expressed that they wouldn't mind meeting somewhere else should an acceptable location come open.
The current location is well established, it is pretty perfect location wise for the east coasters (although this precludes many west coasters) and for Europeans (as DC is close by)
The only two big issues I think against hosting it at the same location would be size and time.
There were a few people that expressed that we were getting a little congested this year, sleeping quarters wise. While that was somewhat true, I'm confident we could fit a good 35 people in there pretty comfortably (as Mr. Weatherton stated that they slept 40 at the house before, BEFORE they had the basement installed), I think getting to around 40 would be getting a bit hairy. I don't think we'll hit 40 this year, although down the line we may if this gets bigger.
This has led to the discussion of splitting the karters/eliters. While I wouldn't be totally opposed to this, I really prefer having both communities involved. The biggest issue here would be, if we split it, where would the others go? The main host is a karter, so I don't know how he'd feel about kicking the karters out to the curb
There was also some, joking, discussion about holding tryouts to be able to come to the meeting, if we got too crowded, or to go by invitation only (although that won't happen, it was pretty funny discussion)
As far as time for the meeting... I think that either early or late Summer is perfect time wise for most people (especially those who have classes). This year fit right in between my summer class and next classes starting (although it encroached upon some people's classes). One problem about the summer, is that traveling prices are a lot more expensive in the summer. In light of this, there has been some discussion of a smaller winter meeting to be held somewhere if someone would be interested in either hosting/attending one. It would be much cheaper, although harder to attend due to classes.
As far as timeframe for the meeting. Having it at 3-4 full days is fine for smaller groups... although this year we reached time crush trying to fit in the competitions. I'd prefer to have a longer time period, so that we could spread out the competitions better, as well as have more down time to just have fun (the football, frisbee, swimming, boating, etc.).
The biggest problem with the current location is that the Weathertons are gone quite often during the summer time, and would have a difficult time in hosting a week long meeting. Although I can talk with Andrew about possibly extending it if I could.
And there's even a problem with hosting a week long meeting: its much easier to get time off work for 2-3 days as opposed to a week (for those that work full time)
I'll leave these main points up for discussion for some time, and we can progress from there
